I've heard several of you are having problems getting the patchwork surrounding the embroidery in the Vintage Blooms quilt blocks to come out nicely.
I just can't have something like that happen. I want you to have fun when making things from my patterns and not cause you frustration. We have 20 blocks to make and it sounds like there isn't enough coffee, wine and chocolate to get us through this if I don't do something!

Sometimes you have to look at things a little differently. I studied the block from more than one angle and asked Violet to take a look at it too. I added and took away seams in a few places and started sewing. I put together and tossed more than one version of the block.

All of my points aren't perfect and I did have to rip out one intersection on a final seam but I think I've found a way to make the block so it's much less stressful and you can get results you'll be happy with.

There's a foundation paper piecing pattern you can download! It is much, much easier to get all of those points to match. You only need to cut two sizes of triangles and the center square and you're ready to go. I put the cutting information on the foundation pattern for you. I did use the new fork pins when fixing the place I had trouble on the last long seam so if you haven't tried those yet I recommend them. They really made a difference. I have them in the online store but they're made by Clover so Joann's might have them and you could use one of their coupons to get them on sale.

I don't think it will make any difference if you do your embroidery before or after you piece the block. The embroidered square is the final piece sewn on the E section and it should be pretty easy to get in the correct position. I'm going to do the patchwork first and my embroidery after. Two of the seam allowances are pressed toward the embroidered square giving you a nice place to tuck the pattern in position for tracing. Just my preference.

I hope this helps if you've had trouble and please let me know if there's anything else I can do to help. The new blocks for this month and the foundation paper piecing pattern are on the Vintage Blooms pattern page - CLICK HERE